FUNERAL POLICIES, MEDICAL AID SCHEMES FOR MUSICIANS
A NEWLY-ESTABLISHED music rights organisation, the Zimbabwe Council of Copyrights (ZICCO), has set up funeral policy and medical aid schemes for its members.
Established a year ago, to safeguard copyrights for musicians, ZICCO is making some giant strides on the local music scene as it targets empowering its members.
This comes at a time when some musicians have struggled to raise money to cover medical expenses while their families have struggled to give them a decent burial.
Some artists have been forced to beg for money to cover medical expenses while arts promoters have had to chip in to ensure a decent burial.
This is despite these late musicians having made hit songs that still receive vast airplay at different events and radio stations.
ZICCO chief executive, Tafadzwa Masembura, said musicians deserve decent medical and funeral cover.
“We have already begun setting up medical aid and funeral policies for our members and their dependants,” he said.
“We want to restore dignity for our artists”. ZICCO is also embarking on income-generating projects for its members.
“We want our musicians to have more than one income stream thus investing in poultry projects for them is our starting point”, he said.
“We will soon be rolling out this project nationwide”.
Masembura said his organisation has a special interest in young artists.
“This group is special to us as they are the ones who are mostly hit by economic hardships as they are yet to get as many performances as established artists.
“We want them not only to rely on music for survival but to be able to take care of their families through these projects”.
ZICCO boasts of over 1000 members.
The association recently gave 150 musicians, including yesteryear star Taruvinga “Sugar Sugar” Manjokota, cash royalties sourced from venues that play their music among them bars, restaurants and hotels.